Electrical connector assemblies are known which have interfacial seals to sealingly engage a mating connector. Connectors are also known which provide an environmental sealing arrangement between the connector body and the insulated cables of the individual terminated conductors securely retained therein. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,866 discloses a connector having a dielectric body with a plurality of contact-receiving cavities therein. A like plurality of insulated conductor wires with terminals thereon is inserted through individual elastomeric seals, and with the contacts secured in the forward ends of the cavities the seals sealingly grip the respective insulated coverings of the conductors and also sealingly engage sidewalls of the cavities at the rear of the connector body. With the particular shape of the seals, the seals are said to allow easy replacement of the contacts and to provide a wiping action between both the seal and connector and the seal and conductor to assure removal of any dirt or debris at the rear of the connector during removal of the contact, keeping the cavity clean. It is also common practice to insert unterminated conductors through the wire seals, followed by terminating the terminal to the conductor end, avoiding the risk of the terminal tearing the seal during insertion.
It is known to use a sealing grommet at a rearward end of a connector to seal against wires extending through holes thereof, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,967. The grommet therein is described as having a plurality of resilient webs extending radially inwardly in each hole thereof to engage against the wires for sealing, and a single grommet is said to provide for use of wires of varying diameters by having webs of different inward extension. It is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,383,926 to use a (relatively) incompressible, elastomeric transverse gland or sealing member within a connector to securely retain contact terminals extending through holes thereof, by deforming into annular recesses of the terminals when the gland is placed under pressure by urging together forward and rearward transverse plates thereagainst by clamping means, after terminals on ends of conductors are inserted thereinto. The gland is said to provide fluid-tight sealing.
Sealed connector assemblies find especial application where electrical connectors are exposed to adverse environmental conditions either during performance or during servicing and repair of the connector or both. Adverse environmental conditions could include incidental water spray, high-nozzle-velocity water spray or steam such as during periodic cleaning, high humidity, and dust or debris. Typical uses for such a sealed connector would be in an electrical system for an agricultural tractor (where spray cleaning, dust and weather are involved) or air conditioner ducts (where high humidity is involved). It is foreseeable that such a connector assembly would need to be serviceable in the field in that one of the contacts may need to be replaced in the connector. It is also foreseeable that an entire assembly may need to be applied to conductors in the field and therefore should require as few steps as possible in as simple and quick and effective a procedure as possible.
Such an assembly should also preferably provide strain relief to protect the terminals from being damaged or accidentally dislodged from their cavities or from electrical engagement with mating contacts. Such strain relief should also protect against lateral stress of the conductors, that is by the conductors being urged to the side, near the connector, as well as against longitudinal or tensile stress, that is by the conductors being pulled away from the connector assembly.
Such an assembly should have seals which do not provide inhibiting levels of resistance to the insertion of terminated conductors therethrough. Such an assembly should have seals which resist damage when a terminated conductor is being inserted therethrough, such as that which could arise because a terminal may have laterally projecting portions and corners which would tend to tear an elastomeric seal. This tendency would be greater for seals whose surface portions have substantial coefficients of friction.